Mick McCarthy insists he is still the right man to lead Wolves' fight against relegation after their 5-1 mauling by West Brom despite growing anger among fans.

Peter Odemwingie's first Barclays Premier League hat-trick pushed Wolves back into the bottom three with Jonas Olsson and Keith Andrews completing the Molineux rout.

Some supporters vented anger towards the directors' box - although owner Steve Morgan was not present - and then a couple of hundred fans staged a demonstration outside the ground after the game.

McCarthy felt the need to apologise for his team's performance but, when asked if he is still the right man for the job, he said: "I always feel I'm the right person to do it, absolutely.

"I apologise to the fans for the performance. I've never done it before but it was warranted because it was awful in the last half an hour.

"Whatever the fans were saying, we deserve every bit of it, no problem.

"Whatever grief they were giving out to me and the players was fully justified after that performance."

It remains to be seen whether the patience of Morgan, who is taking a half-term break with his family, has finally snapped.

McCarthy admitted: "The saddest part was that we capitulated and that's not something I would associate with me or my teams. It was very disappointing although 'disappointing' is an understatement.

"It turned out to be a terrible and disgraceful afternoon in terms of our performance at the end of it.

"I can't give any more messages to the fans - I've apologised for the performance which is about all I can do just at the moment.

"Everyone has seen us get towelled by a team who were better than us on the day. To lose as we did in the last knockings of the game was awful."

His Baggies counterpart Roy Hodgson took time out from his pride at Albion's performance to give his backing to McCarthy.

He said: "Of course, I feel sympathy and empathy for Mick. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I think Wolves can be more than satisfied with what Mick has done for this club.

"I think he's done an excellent job and continues to do an excellent job. But, on the other hand, I don't want to appear naive.

"It doesn't matter whether you're God Almighty or Mick McCarthy, people are going to think there are people out there who can do the job better. My final comment on the subject is that people should be careful what they wish for.

"I think Wolves will still stay up if they keep their heads because they have an outstanding owner as well as an outstanding manager."

Hodgson, who celebrated a year in charge of Albion on Saturday, said: "I couldn't get a better anniversary present could I?

"It was certainly up there as our best performance since I've been at the club."

Steven Fletcher cancelled out Odemwingie's opener on the stroke of half-time but Albion made their superiority count after the break to take their points tally to 14 from the last seven away games.